Nedlac Concludes Consideration of Cosatu Notice of
Protest Action on Privatisation
2 August 2001
The Nedlac Standing Committee on Section 77 today met with the
Congress of South African Trade Unions, Cosatu, and representatives
from the Government regarding Cosatu's notice of possible protest
action regarding the issue of privatisation.
After considering the response tabled by Government to the
issues raised in Cosatu's notice, and verbal inputs from both
parties, the Standing Committee agreed that there seemed to be no
possibility of Government accepting Cosatu's demand that Government
halt all privatisation initiatives pending the establishment of
policy and legislation to guide restructuring, as specified in
Cosatu's notice. The Standing Committee therefore agreed that the
matter could be deemed to have been considered in Nedlac, as per
the requirements of Section 77(1)(c) of the Labour Relations
Act.
Since the last meeting of the Standing Committee on 29 June, one
bilateral meeting was held between Government and Cosatu,
subsequent to Government's responding in writing to the issues
raised in Cosatu's notice. Although there was agreement that
further discussions could be held between Government and Cosatu on
specific sectors, the Standing Committee felt that further meetings
on the issue of the halting of privatisation initiatives, would not
produce an agreement.
In the event that Cosatu tables a notice to Nedlac under Section
77(1)(d) of the Labour Relations Act, members of that federation
would then be able to take part in protected protest action on the
date(s) that the union specifies, provided it (they) is(are) 14
days after the notice has been tabled. The notice would have to
specify exactly what form the action would take, so that employers
would be able to take steps to prepare themselves for the impact
the protest action would have.
Background
In the notice, Cosatu refers to the programme the state has
embarked upon to privatise state assets, enterprises, services and
undertakings. It also refers to the restructuring of state
enterprises, undertakings and services carried out by the state and
the state's opening up of industries or sectors in order to provide
for competition. The notice states that Cosatu is not opposed to
restructuring in itself, but it argues that the state's
restructuring process forms part and parcel of the broader
privatisation programme, which it opposes.
Cosatu's notice argues that the state's privatisation programme
detrimentally affects the socio-economic interests of the poor,
which includes workers and the working class in general. It
specifies a number of demands, including that government halt all
privatisation initiatives pending the establishment of a clear
policy and legislation to guide restructuring. The notice says that
the policy must be binding on all state-owned or controlled
entities, and must be negotiated by the parties to Nedlac, and
subsequently tabled as legislation. In the notice Cosatu says that
the protest would include marches, protest rallies, demonstrations
and an initial stayaway of two days.
The notice was tabled in terms of Section 77 of the Labour
Relations Act, which allows registered trade unions or federations
of trade unions to undertake protest action to promote and protect
the social and economic interests of workers, if they follow
certain procedures. [Section 77 (1)(a)]. Before embarking on
protest action, the trade union concerned is required to serve
notice on Nedlac stating the reasons for the protest action and the
intended nature of the protest action. [Section 77(1)(b).] The Act
requires the Nedlac parties to meet with the trade union and the
parties at whom the notice is directed, to consider the issues
raised.[Section 77(1)(c)]. Should the issues remain unresolved
after thorough consideration, workers are entitled to participate
in protected protest action 14 days after serving a second notice
on Nedlac of their intention to proceed with the action. [Section
77(1)(d)].
Jennifer Wilso
Communications Coordinator
Nedlac
(011) 482-2511
fax: 482 4650
082 495 1341